Macbeth's nightmare
by Jenny Clever
Summary: The title says it all: Macbeth's nightmare after the murder of Banquo.... Read and review.


**A/N: This is actually an english assignment, but I liked it a lot, so I decided I might as well put it up, because it IS my writing, and it is fanfiction. This takes place after Macbeth has had the Murderers kill Banquo. It is (obviously) a nightmare that he has. Read and Review! ~Morgaine~**

** Macbeth's Nightmare**

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Macbeth settled down for the night, pleased with the disposal of Banquo, and slightly worried with the escape of Fleance. He was sure that he would be able to deal with him later, and so he went to sleep with a happy heart. As he drifted into the dreaming world, the black shadows around his bed lengthened. The canopy above his head turned red, as though it was suddenly blooming with poppies. An inharmonious chord of discordant music came from the direction of the doors to the bedchamber. 

Macbeth's feeling of calm quickly dissolved, replacing with a pounding fear. The king shut his eyes and covered his ears against the madness that was threatening to take hold of him. Despite his lidded eyes, he saw flames dancing around him, eating at his robes. Deciding that the fiery inferno was more horrible than the chaos of his bedroom, he reopened his eyes. The wind outside the windows reaching a howling pitch and a fire sprang to life in the hearth. Remembering the sight he had seen moments ago, Macbeth backed up against his headboard, clutching his sheets nervously. The strong wind blew open the locked and bolted door and an animal appeared from the hallway outside. It was a great and mighty stag, a noble creature. Though it was an animal, its eyes seemed remarkably similar to the dead Banquo's eyes. The stag reared and its immense horns gleamed in the fire light. 

With the quickest speed imaginable, the stag charged Macbeth. In the same instant, the fire leapt from the hearth and began to spread across the floor. A stroke of lightening from the storm outside lit the scene with an eerie light. The horrid music reached its crescendo. All the chaos weighed down on Macbeth's shoulders, and just as the stag was about to hit Macbeth and the fire about to eat through the bed's material, everything ceased in its place. The fire froze, the stag was poised in midair, the scene was illuminated by the lightening, and the music was momentarily silent. 

Macbeth looked wildly to either side of him, wondering how everything had suddenly frozen in time. His gaze fell on a woman cloaked in the shadows to the left of his bed. She stepped forward and Macbeth recognized his long dead mother. The fear in the king's heart changed instantly to a mixture of shock and joy. Macbeth had loved his mother dearly, and would have done everything for her. Though she had been beautiful in her youthful life, now she was but a withered corpse, pieces of old skin and clothing clinging to a skeleton's frame. 

"I am so disappointed in you, my dear," she croaked. "I asked you to be great, to be a king. And now… you have ruined it. Can you do nothing properly? I am ashamed to call you my son."

Macbeth stared in astonishment. His heart broke, as he had never wanted anything as much as to be perfect in his mother's eyes. The strange field of poppies that had grown from his canopy began to melt, or rather, to bleed. The blood was thick, dark, and warm, showing that the murder was fresh. The scene of his bedroom remained still. A perfect drop of blood formed on the tip of a poppy's petal. It hung suspended for a moment, then fell, seeming to descend both quickly and slowly at the same time. The droplet of blood hit Macbeth's forehead and the sound and impact shattered the frozen surroundings. The stag finished its leap, the fire devoured his bed, and the terrible music once again assaulted his eardrums. Opening his mouth to scream for help, Macbeth suddenly jerked awake. His rational mind realized that it was all a dream, but his heart kept its quick pace and Macbeth couldn't find rest for the duration of the night.

**A/N: so what did you think? is it spooktacular??? were you scared??? Or is it absolutely horrible????? Just click to review.... ~Morgaine~**


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